Unneeded Prison Land to be Sold, More Inmates Put to Work

Press Release

Uneeded Prison Land to be Sold, More Inmates Put to Work

The Alabama Department of Corrections will put 5,763 acres of unproductive and money-losing properties up for sale, bring state inmates back from Louisiana prisons and put more inmates to work.

Governor Bob Riley and Corrections Commission Richard Allen said Wednesday that proceeds generated from the land sales during the coming year will go toward prison infrastructure improvements and not operating expenses. All property to be sold will be appraised, advertised and sold through a public process to the highest bidder.

Such a process was used earlier this year when 540 acres of the Farquhar State Cattle Ranch near Greensboro was sold for more than $1.6 million, which is higher than its appraised value of $1.4 million.

The properties being put up for sale are:

1,851 acres of the 2,215 acres at Red Eagle Honor Farm in Montgomery

The remaining 3,869 acres of the Farquhar State Cattle Ranch

An empty and unused 16,000-square foot building on South Union Street in Montgomery

32 acres in Wetumpka on Highway 231 North

10 acres at the old Kilby prison in Montgomery

All the properties are either unneeded or losing money. The Farquhar State Cattle Ranch, for example, has lost approximately $377,000 during the past two fiscal years and has lost almost $60,000 in the first six months of the current fiscal year.

"These properties are a financial drain on the taxpayers and aren't needed," said Governor Riley. "It makes no sense to hold on to them. We will sell them, relieve this burden on the taxpayers and use the money for some long-needed improvements to correctional facilities."

The Department of Corrections expects the sale of the properties will bring in up to $22 million.

This is not the first time land owned by the Department of Corrections has been sold. In addition to the sale earlier this year of 540 acres at the cattle ranch, more than 630 acres of Corrections property was sold through the bid process in 2003 and 2004 for $3.8 million.

Governor Riley said the sale of idle land would not be limited to the Department of Corrections, noting that several agencies, including the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, own properties that may be sold. The Governor's office is working with state agencies to determine what property they own is unneeded and could be sold.

In addition to selling unneeded property, the Department of Corrections will terminate its contracts with two Louisiana-based companies and return approximately 1,300 male and female inmates from private prisons in Louisiana. All inmates in Louisiana will be back in Alabama by the end of November. That move is expected to save the Corrections Department almost $10 million.

Corrections will also increase the number of prisoners in work release facilities around the state. After Governor Riley tightened work release standards in 2005, inmates convicted of murder, manslaughter, sex crimes, kidnapping, drug trafficking or criminally negligent homicide are not allowed to participate in the work release program for the private sector. Those standards remain in effect, even as the number of inmates in work release will increase.

Commissioner Allen said the number of inmates on work release will increase to about 3,300, nearly the same number that were on work release four years ago. There are currently about 1,800 non-violent offenders on work release. The decline in inmates on work release began after the establishment of a second parole board, whose mandate was to accelerate the parole of non-violent offenders. That second parole board no longer exists.

A percentage of the salary paid to work release inmates goes to the Corrections Department. As the number of work release inmates has dropped during the past four years, revenue generated by the program for the department has taken a corresponding drop of 50 percent, or approximately $9 million, since 2002. Putting more inmates to work is expected to produce about $9 million for the Department of Corrections.

There are 10 existing work release centers across the state. Increasing the number of non-violent inmates on work release will not only generate more revenue, it will also open up space in state prisons for violent offenders. Another move being undertaken to open up space for violent offenders is the implementation of an existing law that allows certain inmates nearing the end of their sentences to be placed in a Supervised Re-entry Program. Under this 1976 law, selected inmates near the end of their prison sentences can be put in a residential environment such as a halfway house or sponsor's home where they can obtain employment, education or job training, and pay court-ordered restitution.

The Supervised Re-entry Program, while similar to parole, is actually stricter than parole because the inmates remain under the control of Corrections, are monitored by Corrections sergeants with face-to-face contacts, must submit to drug testing and electronic monitoring if directed, and must abide by a nightly curfew. Under Supervised Re-entry, inmates' employment or enrollment in an education or job training program is verified by the Corrections sergeants and the inmates must fulfill a 40-hour work week requirement. Inmates who violate these conditions can be removed from the Supervised Re-entry Program. Inmates with no prior convictions for homicide or sex offenses who are within one year of the end of their sentence - or within 18 months within the end of their sentence for female prisoners - may be considered for the supervised re-entry program.

"Supervised Re-entry will make our communities safer. It helps inmates who are about to be released to adjust to life outside of prison. These people are nearing the end of their sentences. They're going to be returning to our communities whether they're rehabilitated or not. We will enhance public safety by monitoring them, making sure they remain drug-free, and by making sure they are either working or learning new skills to get work," said Commissioner Allen.

Additional prison space for violent criminals will be opened up through other measures being undertaken:

A 400-bed Community Education Center in Columbiana for non-violent inmates will open in November. Inmates at the center will receive job training, education and substance abuse treatment for six months. After completing the program, the inmates will transfer to one of the state's 10 work release centers. This allows Corrections to open up space for 800 violent inmates in state prisons over the course of a year.

Construction at Limestone Correctional Facility is nearing completion, which will create space for an additional 300 inmates by placing beds at an existing warehouse inside the facility's main fence. These inmates will be placed there beginning in September.

The Montgomery Pre-Release Facility located behind Kilby Correctional Facility in Mount Meigs will be converted into a new women's facility, where 300 women inmates will be housed. The conversion will take place in by November.

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